The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-02-15
CONFEDERATE CAVALRY LIFE.
Col. MOsby Gives Bit OF His Experience
The Old GRAY Horse,

Col. MOsby Gives Bit OF His Experience
The Old Gray Horse.
While the cavalry did not have an on
portunity to do much fighting hats.rlg during the
tlrst yea = 81 the war, they learned to per-
:, form the duties and endure the priva-
tons of soldiers life. My experience
! in this school was of great advantage to
me in the after years when l became a
commander. There was thirst for ad-
venture among the men in the cavalry,
and a positive pleasure to get an Oc-
casiOnal shot from riheman in a
thicket." There were often false alarms,
and sometimes real ones, from scouting
parties of infan try who would come up at
night to surprise our pickets a vivid i'm
agination united with a nervous temper
ament can see in the dark shapes of many
things that have no real existence. a
rabbit making its nocturnal rounds,
cow grazing, hog roofing for acrons, an
owl hOOting or the screech of night
hawk could often arouse and sometimes
stampede an outpost, or draw the fire Of
whole line of pickets. At the first shot
the reserve wousl mount and soon the
videttes would come running in at full
speed.
There was an old gray horse roaming
about the fields at Fairfax Court House
must have been fired at 100 times at night
by our vidette3 and yet was never touched.
| have never heard whether congress has
voted him pension. The last time that
| was ever on picket was in February,
1852 The snow was deep and hard frozen
My post was on the outskirts of Fairfax
Court House, at the junction of the Wash
ingtOn road and turnpike. l wore a
wooden hood to- keep my ears from freez-
ing and blanket thrown around me as a
protection against the cold wind The
night was clear and all that's best of dark
and bright. l sat on my horse under the
shadow of a tree, both as a protection
from the piercing blast and as a screen
from the sight of an enemy. had gone
on duty at midnight to remain until day
break The deep silence was occasionally
broken by the cry of Halt" from some
distant sentinel as he challenged the
patrol or relief. The swaying branches
of the trees in the moonlight cast all sorts
of fantastic shapes on the frozen snow.
In this deep solitude | was watching for
danger and communing with the spirit of
the past. At this very spot, a few nights
before, the vidette had been fred on by
scouting party of infantry that had come
up from McClellan'S camps below. But
the old gray horse had several times got
up picnic there which raised a laugh ON
the soldiers.
Now confess that was about as murh
afraid of ridicule as of being shot, and so,
unless got killed or captured, I resolved
to spend the night there. Horatio Coolies
was not more determined to hold his po-
sitiOn on the bridge of the Tiber than [
was to stay at my post, but perhaps his
motives were less mixed than mine. l
had been long bordering and remember
ing, and in my re Verie had visited the
fields that l had trayersed lin life's
morning march when my bosom was
young" was suddenly aroused by the
crash of footsteps breaking the crust of
the hard snow. The sound appeared to
proceed from something approaching me
with the measured tread of file OF sol
diers. 1t was screened from my view by
some houses near the roadside. / was
sure that it was an enemy creeping up to
get a shot at me, for 1 thouht that even
the old horse would not have ventured
out on such night, unless under orders
My heart began to sicken within me
pretty much as Hector's did when he had |
to face the wrath of Achilles. My horse
with cold, with the instinct of
danger, pricked up his ears and listened |
as eagerly as 1 did to the footsteps as they |
got near. drew my pistol, cooked it, and |
took aim at the corner around which this /
object must come 1 wanted to get the |
advantage of the first shot. Just then !
the hero of hundred panics appe ared- |
the old gray horse. I returned my pistol |
to my belt and relapsed into reverie !
was happy, my credit as soldier had /
been saved.-COl. John S. Mosby in New |
York Mercury